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Bench Talk / Off The Wire

Stampeders By 9

Hi this is Fred Wallace with " Off the Wire " brought to you by your local Auto Logic- the Logical Choice.

The Grey Cup festivities more or less started yesterday with the arrival of the two teams; the Ottawa RedBlacks back to represent the East and the CFL West Champion Calgary Stampeders.

The Stampeders arrived carrying a fairly heavy betting advantage, being installed as 9 point favorites for the Canadian Football Final.

And why not ?

Dave Dickenson's team had a sterling record of 15-2 & 1 overall. Remarkably, they lost a tight game in their season opener to BC, won their next game against Winnipeg and played to a rare tie
at Ottawa in Week 3 to start the year 1-1 & 1.

After a bye week, Calgary reeled off 14 straight victories and likely had their foot well off the gas for the regular season finale when they lost at Montreal ending their streak.

Can Ottawa, who won the East but were the first team in CFL history to do so with a losing record, be any sort of a challenge for Calgary ?

Well, this is football. Canadian Football at that, where anything can unfold in a 1 game shot.

But my belief is the 9 point edge being afforded to Calgary might be too slight.